In Sicily, finally, not directly from Japan, after many hours of traveling behind and a rich phonebook.
My family is united for the first time in years, with all members present. It's an event not to be missed. So, there I come too.

I plan 3 (THREE) entire weeks to spend at home, hoping I will manage to fit together all my dates, many of which are fortunately a family business.
Ten homey days with my niece and nephews pass by between highs and lows, arguments and explanations, big lunches and dinners, they fly. The so longed weekend in Cassino arrives, and before I manage to squeeze an afternoon in Naples with Ester, Francesca and Mena -they're all fantastic, then at my return I have an evening arranged with my old friends, few but good ones. Last, the arrival of Yoko and Tani, which gives me the possibility to wear again the tour guide's hat and driving for two days across Eastern Sicily…
Finally Paris, this year's destination, with Nicola and Damien is the vacation within the vacation that is always needed after a family overdose. And see you next year!

Despite the season, with my great surprise, the climate in Sicily was cold and rainy, and I *sigh* had to drop the idea of spending days at the beach working on my tan. Never seen something like this. Usually the Sicilian Easter is the prelude to the summer, and it's basically made of sunny and warm days. But this time, instead, even close to May, I've seen the fog covering all the fields around and eating the mountain and its castle.

Speaking of castles and the mountain, a lot about my home town can be told, hence I can elevate the level of this quite boring post with some historical news…
The mount Iudica is full of mystery and legends, together with being an important archaeological site as a proof of the area cultural heritage thanks to the mix of different cultures.
Once it had a castle (The Rock of Iudica), which was destroyed by king of Caltagirone Ruggero of Sicily, around year 1000 in a battle against the arabs. The ruins can still be seen. In our days, the bell of Altavilla, taken as a battle trophy, is exposed inside the church of Santa Maria del Monte in Caltagirone. There are remains of a medieval church dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel. There are also ruins of a whole tonwn and a necropolis, vases and other tools. As of today, this patrimony is not very well preserved or maintained, although in the last years some works to restore part of the ruins have contributed to rediscover this past, as they did with the night illumination of the church, visible now also from the nearby towns.

Back again to my vacation, I was looking forward to using the days at home, with the good weather I expected and the optimal conditions in this time of the year, to drive around and take photos of the hills, finally green, the valleys, the fields, the hidden streets in the towns. In the end, the reportage on the Sicilian inland I have been dreaming of making has been again postponed.

While Fukushima was in a critical phase, I was told by many people that I should have better gone back to Europe, which is safer than Japan.

Well, let's see...In the two months that followed the earthquake in North Japan till now, in Europe happened as follows:

war in Lybia with a high risk for Sicily (being it the strategic base where the military airforce that bombed Gadhafi took off from), toxic sulfuric cloud over Sicily caused, fors sure by the bombing in Lybia, eruption of Etna, volcanic earthquake in North West Sicily. And all this before my arrival to Italy, in mid April.

Then, another eruption with closure of Catania airport due to volcanic ashes right after my departure for Paris, earthquake in Spain. Now, another volcano in Iceland woke up and threatens Europe...

The only one thing Montecassino is known for is the abbey. Founded by S. Benedict around year 500DC as a monastery, it was subject to many destructions and reconstructions until the world war, when it was then restructured following the original plan and it nowadays still keeps its massive and unchanged charm.

A thick fog was covering the mountain, and one could see little of the monastery...a few windows, a wall, a roof. It was like being in one horror novel.
Fortunately, the day when we went up to the top was quite sunny and so the fear from the day before became just a faded memory.
From the feet of the mountain one can guess how big the building is, even though, once at the door, the areas open to the public are only a small portion of the whole complex. The Chiostro del Bramante itself, had a veranda open onto the valley underneath which contributed enough to feel off balance. But it's when I enter the church that I can't but wonder. Golden and marble walls and columns, high vaults and ceilings not yet painted because, as the abbot says, nobody has yet been found to be suitable for such a job.
The abbey was more crowded than usual because of the beatificaton process of John Paul II in Rome, and between worshippers and Polish people, the buses with tourists kept running back and forth intensively, also because of the presence of a Polish and a British cemetery there. That means, there were enough people. Fortunately the abbey is so big that we could spread well...

The museum inside is not to be missed, too, and on exhibiton are, no need to say, mass books, priests robes, bibles, music books and so on. What impressed me was a quite big collection of more or less miniature books, and when I say miniature I mean 1cmx1cm books, few millimeters thick and matched with a magnifying glass. The music books were all the opposite: huge books on which notes were drawn as squares and the words were in latin.
A new section of the museum hosts some works from Picasso and some other artists of interesting creativity.
The time for us to visit all parts of the monastery is shortening and also my vacation is ending.

Anyway, thanks to Leon's christening I could present myself with a weekend away. Luca wants his son to be baptized in Cassino, so as I was in Italy the same time, we arrange for a met up. I was Claudio and Floriana's guest and I couldn't ask better hospitality, as I felt more of a daughter than a guest.

As for the bronze statues of Riace....ahhh!Let's talk about it next time.

A sight of cherry flowers still recognizable, Chiba's greenhouses, the beach, then the sea and the clouds.
That's how another flight to Europe begins and it continues West over the snowy Japanese alps, white even in the warm sunny days of spring, which jump into the sea to pop up again a few Km forward with Sadogashima: it's the inner coast of Japan, the less developed and less known area.
And higher are the clouds, above which nothing else can be, only blue. Going through the clouds is like going through a wall that divides two worlds, one where everthing is shapes and colors, and the other one which is just light. Or just darkness.
The world under in heterogeneous, varied, colored, it's the world for living. The world above is instead of one color, homogeneous, it's the world for dreaming.
From the airplane window I can see the many Finnish islands, spread randomly on a flat golden sea, then slowly the pieces of land turn into continent, Swiss hills, to go back again to the familiar views of Elba island and Orbetello lagoon.

For this trip to Europe, as I did in the past too, I tried to put together as many distractions as possible, meeting friends in Cassino, Rome, Naples, Catania, inviting friends in Sicily and taking them around the South East coast, partying with family and relatives, visiting Paris. All of this, accompanied by some unexpected romance or, depending on the situations, wellness or discomfort.

I haven't mentioned the Japanese situation. Deliberately, since stories about tsunami,earthquakes and risks of radiation have followed up at increasing speed and in a crescendo of tragedy levels.

But how do people live in Tokyo in these days?

Since the day I came back form the forced Australian vacation, I'd say that little has changed. We've archived for the moment the risk of radiations in the air, and just the frequent aftershocks perturb daily routines. But I won't be worried so much, as Japan has always been a highly seismic region and in these four years I've felt many quakes.

Also panic in people's mind is lowering and so even goods at supermarkets are not disappearing quickly (perhaps the restrictions to buy just one piece of each item are helping), so shelves at the shops are again fully loaded. Almost loaded.

Then, the so much feared black outs: limited to my area, we didn't have any. Everyone is making an effort to maintain energy use low, and I'd say that besides some weird cases the initiative is going well and without so many inconveniences. Yes, some trains and metro runs have been canceled, but it's about runs not in rush hours or about redundant runs (I mean, if two lines have more or less the same route, some optimization is done there).

The two more striking signs of energy savings are The Tokyo tower lights and the maxi screens in Shibuya off. Shibuya, let me tell you, is not so impressive without them.

The rest is the same: people go to work, go out for dinner, maybe not till too late like before, for many restaurants -and businesses- reduced the working hours, weekend at the park to see the cherry blossom, dancing….

This time Tokyo made it, we were lucky with the winds and the sea currents, the weather was mild and people's attitude great.

We are not yet out of danger, the nuclear plant is still a risk because of the many aftershocks that make the workers evacuate for safety reasons, because of the Japanese bureaucratic machine, because of the lack of emergency measures, because of their pride. Above all. In these days I have like the impression that the Japanese really want to do by themselves, as to shown that they will manage to stand up again without external help. Or perhaps it may be that their own pride wants them not to ask for help…

Well, whatever it is, thanks to or because of them, the situation at Fukushima is stable since last month or so. Which is good news. But it could have been much better, since earlier times.